


Not Broken, Just Bent

by punkcatknitter



Series: Drifting Over Bridges [2]
Category: NCIS
Genre: Car Accidents, Coma, Dysfunctional Family, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Gen, Hospitals, Injury Recovery, Physical Disability, Physical Therapy, Recovery
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-05
Updated: 2016-03-03
Packaged: 2018-05-18 10:45:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,518
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5925592
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/punkcatknitter/pseuds/punkcatknitter
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It had been exactly twenty-one days since Mikel Mawher almost killed Timothy McGee.</p><p>Exactly three weeks that he had been lying in a bed in the ICU at Bethesda General Hospital hooked up to monitors and machines, tubes and IV lines running out of him.</p><p>Ziva had been present for each one of those days, from the beginning when she had sat in the waiting room praying desperately that he would not die, to this day, a Tuesday, when she stopped by after work to sit by his bed.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This story is a sequel to my Abby/Gibbs story Driftwood, but it mostly stands alone. All you need to know is this is AU past season 3. Abby had a baby, married Gibbs, and Tim was hurt saving her life from her ex Mikel Mawher. (Summary in case the prologue doesn't make it clear enough)

**Prologue**

 

Ziva David closed the book and leaned back in her chair. “You and I are going to have a serious discussion when you wake up,” she told the sleeping figure on the bed.

Deep Six: The Continuing Adventures of LJ Tibbs by Thom E. Gemcity. She shook her head in amazement, unable to stop an exasperated smile from creeping across her face.

“You might be injured, but this book.” She waved it in the air for emphasis. “You have some explaining to do. I do not care if you are hurt.”

It had been exactly twenty-one days since Mikel Mawher almost killed Timothy McGee.

Exactly three weeks that he had been lying in a bed in the ICU at Bethesda General Hospital hooked up to monitors and machines, tubes and IV lines running out of him.

Ziva had been present for each one of those days, from the beginning when she had sat in the waiting room praying desperately that he would not die, to this day, a Tuesday, when she stopped by after work to sit by his bed.

Ziva leaned forward and carefully took Tim’s right hand in hers. There was a small bandage on the top where the nurses had taken out the IV port from that hand a few days before when the vein had collapsed. He had three similar wounds on his right arm, dark red puncture marks with purple-ish bruises the size of a dime around them.

Those were the smallest of his injuries.

Tim had succeeded in keeping Mikel Mawher from hurting Abby that night, but it had been at great cost to himself. During the ensuing struggle outside Gibbs’ house, Tim had sustained the injuries that led him here.

The bullet wound was nothing more than a graze to his shoulder. According to the eyewitnesses, he had been shot before the accident. One neighbor reported seeing Tim bleeding profusely when he got behind the wheel of the car.

As best as anyone could make out, Tim had gotten into his car to chase Mawher after he tried to abduct a very pregnant Abby. Both cars were less than 100 feet away when Mawher decided his best chance at getting away would be to ram Tim’s car. What it actually ended up doing was causing a horrible accident that left Mawher dead and Tom severely wounded.

In the car accident, Tim had sustained massive trauma to both his left leg and his torso. He wasn’t breathing when the paramedics arrived at the hospital due to several broken ribs, one of which had punctured his right lung. He had been wheeled into surgery almost immediately after being stabilized.

There was damage to his spleen, pancreas, lower intestine, and, of course, his lungs. His gallbladder had ruptured and been removed. It was only after his internal injuries had been dealt with that they turned to his leg.

Ziva did not remember all of the medical jargon the doctor had used when explaining to her, but she did remember that there were several screws and plates now holding Tim’s left femur together.

All this was in addition to several small to medium sized cuts that had to be stitched shut and many bruises.

At first, the doctor had kept him sedated, wanting to keep him as still as possible for several days while his wounds began to heal. He would be in a great deal of pain, the doctor explained, so keeping him sedated was the kindest option as well.

Thirteen days after the accident, the doctor began weaning Tim slowly off of the medication that had been keeping him in a medical coma. Eight days after that, Tim had still not woken up.

Ziva came to visit him each day. Her vigil had begun out of guilt. Abby had asked her to look after Tim after she married Gibbs. Ziva had been the one who told Abby to call Tim when she found out her crazy ex-boyfriend was coming after her again.

Logically, she knew there was nothing she could have done differently. She and Gibbs had been at the Navy Yard that night and Tim was much closer. Mikel had been getting more and more unstable for months. If Tim hadn’t shown up, who knows what he would have done to Abby.

But it wasn’t just guilt that was keeping her there. Tim had been a good friend to her during the time they had known each other. He was a good man.

He shouldn’t be alone.

“I thought I’d find you here.”

Ziva looked up to find Tony leaning against the doorway to Tim’s room. He was still wearing the same clothes he had been at the Navy Yard, so obviously he had come straight from work as well.

Ziva sat and waited for Tony to explain his presence. It had been a long day at work, a rough case that left an unpleasant taste in one’s mouth. She did not have the energy for any more verbal sparring with Tony and he knew perfectly well she came to the hospital each night to see Tim.

Tony walked into the room and stood at the foot of the bed, staring down at the pale man lying there. “I keep hoping the next time I come here he’ll be sitting up and talking,” he admitted.

She wouldn’t say it out loud, but that was her wish as well.

“The Doc think he’s getting any closer to waking up?” Tony probed.

Ziva lifted her eyes to meet Tony’s. “They still do not know.”

Tony frowned. “There’s nothing else they can do?”

“It takes time.” Ziva felt one of Tim’s fingers flex slightly and she felt her heart beat a fraction faster. “He is getting closer each day. The day nurse told me he opened his eyes today, and sometimes he squeezes my hand.”

“I guess it really isn’t like the movies, huh?” Tony tilted his head. “In the movies, they just open their eyes and start talking.”

“Apparently not,” Ziva murmured. She let go of Tim’s hand and leaned back in her chair.

Ziva had received quite the crash course in comas during the past three weeks. At first, she had been so alert to every tiny movement or reflex Tim’s body made. Her hopes had been dashed when she came to understand that there were so many things in between “coma” and “awake”.

Two days ago he had said Abby’s name out loud for the first time. The doctors thought it unlikely he would remember the actual accident, few patients ever did, but apparently his mind remembered enough to know that Abby had been in danger.

Not surprising considering how much time they had all spent with Abby during those last few months after she and Gibbs returned from Mexico.

But still when he said her name, Ziva had squeezed his hand and reassured Tim that Abby was all right, that Abby’s baby was all right, that he had saved them.

That was all that really mattered, right?


	2. Chapter One

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait. The beginning chapters of this story needed more work than I realized. Hopefully, once I get past the first few I will be able to update quicker. I hope everyone enjoys this chapter. 
> 
> Also, a review for the last chapter made me want to remind/tell people that in this universe, neither Gibbs or Abby is working for NCIS anymore. They are both currently in Pennsylvania helping Jackson out after he broke a bone. I hope that clears up any confusion anyone might have. If not, feel free to ask!

**"We must take care of our families wherever we find them."**

-Elizabeth Gilbert

 

“What the hell?”

Ziva and Tony looked up to find a very pissed off looking girl with medium brown hair standing at the foot of the room. She was wearing jeans and a burgundy striped shirt. To their surprise, she didn’t seem to be looking at them, but at Tim.

“My brother’s in a car accident and I only find out because Lucy Schwartz is fulfilling her community service hours as a Candy Striper?” The girl stomped forward, crossing her arms and turning to glare at Tony. “Are you Tim’s doctor? I demand to know why my family wasn’t notified he was in the hospital.”

“I, uh,” Tony glanced desperately at Ziva while doing his best impression of an open-mouthed bass.

Ziva stood up slowly. “You are Tim’s sister, Sarah?”

The girl nodded. “Yeah.”

“I am Ziva David. I work with your brother at NCIS.” She held out her hand to Sarah.

Sarah stared at Ziva’s extended palm for a moment before giving it a half-hearted shake. “Tim’s talked about you.”

Tony let out a snort.

Both Ziva and Sarah turned to glare at him.

“I’m Tony,” he offered, with a smile. “I’m sure Tim has talked about me too.”

“Not really.” Sarah turned back to Ziva. “Do you know why no one called my parents?”

Ziva nodded. “I was given to understand Tim’s file specifically requested that his family not be notified if he was in an accident. Not unless he was awake to approve the order. Since he is not awake, our hands were tied.”

The anger drained a little out of Sarah’s face. “I guess I understand that. Tim and Dad don’t really see eye to eye. But why wouldn’t he want me to know?”

“Perhaps he did not want you to worry,” Ziva suggested. She had found the order strange as well when Director Shepherd told her but felt she had to respect Tim’s feelings.

“Too late,” Sarah muttered, staring down at Tim as he lay silently in the hospital bed. She seemed to be taking in all the tubes and wires for the first time and her eyes filled with tears. “What happened? Is he gonna be okay?”

Ziva motioned for Sarah to take her chair and the girl sank down, never taking her eyes off her brother. She visibly wilted, her defensive posture disappearing until she looked very much like a little girl, a little sister who was scared for her brother.

“Tim was in an accident while chasing a suspect. He suffered several serious injuries, although the doctors believe he will recover well.” Ziva tried to keep her words simple and to the point.

“Why isn’t he awake?”

“They kept him sedated for several days so he could begin to heal and not reopen his wounds. Now we are just waiting for him to regain consciousness on his own,” Ziva explained.

Sarah swiped at her eyes. “How long has he been here?”

“Three weeks,” Ziva stated softly.

“Three weeks!” Sarah exclaimed, turned to look at both Ziva and Tony both. “My brother has been alone in a hospital bed fighting for his life for three weeks while I was out crashing sorority parties and doing jello shots?”

Ziva spoke quickly before Tony could say something uncouth. “Tim would have wanted you to remain in school.”

“I should have been here. He shouldn’t have been alone.”

“He wasn’t alone,” Tony spoke up. “We’ve all been visiting him and Ziva’s been here every day.”

Sarah looked up in surprise. “Thank you, Ziva,” she said softly. I’m glad Tim has a good friend like you.”

“What am I, chopped liver?” Tony protested.

Ziva and Sarah both stared at him silently.

“Tim has told me about you.” Sarah narrowed her eyes.

“I guess since you’re here to keep Ziva company I’ll just head home.” Tony began to inch towards the door. “Call me if anything changes.”

Ziva nodded and waited until he left before pulling a second chair over to Tim’s bedside. “I am sorry if you feel betrayed by us not contacting you, but Tim’s instructions were very clear.”

“It’s okay.” Sarah leaned forward and touched Tim’s arm gently. “It just freaked me out when Lucy asked what was wrong with Tim and I didn’t even know he’d gotten hurt. How bad is it, anyway?”

Ziva explained about the accident and detailed Tim’s wounds, trying to sound as positive as was possible. She knew Tim adored his baby sister and would not want her to worry more than she already was.

“Wow.” Sarah stared in amazement at her brother. “He saved Abby’s life? And she named her baby after him? That’s crazy. I can’t believe he didn’t tell me Abby got married. And had a baby!”

Ziva smiled at the girl’s exuberance. “It all seemed to happen very fast.”

Sarah sobered again, glancing at her brother and then panning the room with her eyes. Her eyes suddenly widened, and Ziva realized she had caught sight of Tim’s book sitting on a table. She looked over at Ziva. “Uh-oh.”

Ziva kept her face sober. “I take it you were aware of your brother’s little hobby?”

“I plead the fifth.”

“Doctor Gelfand is here,” a nurse announced.

Sarah stood up quickly from the chair, looking nervously at Ziva as the bespeckled man entered the room. Ziva had spoken to Dr. Gelfand many times since the accident. He was the doctor who had treated Gibbs after his accident and had a lovely bedside manner.

Hopefully, he could make Sarah feel at ease.

“Hello Ziva,” Dr. Gelfand greeted her. “I see Tim’s got a room full of beautiful ladies today.”

“This is Tim’s sister, Sarah,” Ziva explained.

Dr. Gelfand nodded. “It’s good to meet you, Sarah. Your brother’s a good man. We’re all looking forward to seeing him up and on his feet again.”

“Abby.”

The trio whirled around to look at Tim, who was moving his head slightly and scrunching up his eyes.

Ziva was the closest and she didn’t hesitate to take Tim’s hand. “Timothy?” Her face fell as his movements began to slow. “Timothy, Abby is fine. She is safe. The baby is safe. I promise everything is all right.”

She swore he looked relieved as his face slackened.

xxx

Tim felt like he was scrambling for footholds in a smooth basin. His brain felt fuzzy and thick. Thoughts were like butterflies, moving away from him as fast as they landed.

Occasionally voices broke through the haze. A man asked him to wiggle his toes. A woman asked him to squeeze her hand. He tried to ask them what they were doing, where he was, what was going on, but the words never seemed to make it from his brain to his mouth.

“Abby.” He couldn’t remember why, but Abby was in danger. Something was happening to Abby and why couldn’t he remember? Someone wanted to hurt her and he knew he should remember who but everything was so fuzzy and his stomach hurt and he couldn’t move his legs.

“Timothy.” A voice broke through the haze and Tim struggled to put a name with it. “Timothy, Abby is fine. She’s safe. The baby’s safe. I promise everything is all right.”

Was that Ziva? Tim could almost pick up on the Israeli’s accent before the fog closed back in and the voices were gone.

But Abby was all right, so he slept.

xxx

Captain Gelfand shined his small flashlight in Tim’s eyes. “He’s trying to wake up, that’s an excellent sign.” He smiled at the women as he tucked the light in the pocket of his white medical jacket. “I’m very optimistic ladies, his vitals are good and he’s following instructions.”

Ziva stood off to the side of the room while Sarah clutched at McGee’s hand.

“But when will he wake up?” Sarah wanted to know. “He remembers Abby, so he doesn’t have amnesia, right?”

Ziva was reminded of just how young Sarah was by the trusting way she looked up at the doctor. Sarah had so much hope in her voice, so much optimism.

Ziva had lost that innocent hope many years before.

“I can’t make any promises,” Captain Gelfand told the young woman honestly. “It’s common for trauma patients to never remember their accident, but I haven’t seen any signs of brain damage. He did have a concussion, but no brain swelling and there were no other signs of a traumatic brain injury.”

Sarah listened seriously but still looked confused. “Then why has it take so long?”

The doctor smiled. “I think his brain was just giving his body some time to heal without worrying about anything else. He’s breathing good, the nurses tell me he’s been opening his eyes a few times a day, I’d say the chances are more than good that he’s going to be fully awake in a few days.”

“Thank you, Doctor,” Ziva said sincerely. “I appreciate you taking the time to see Tim.”

“It is my pleasure.” Todd Gelfand smiled warmly at her. “When Jenny told me what Timothy did for Gibbs and his new wife I couldn’t say no.”

“Jenny?” Sarah frowned.

“The director of NCIS,” Ziva clarified.

“Oh.” Sarah nodded. “Yes, thank you, Dr. Gelfand.”

Todd patted Sarah on the shoulder. “Stay positive, Ms. McGee. When Tim does wake up for good, it’s going to take him some time to get re-acclimated. Don’t be worried if he asks the same questions over and over, it takes some time for the short term memory to start processing things again. He’s just going to need a lot of support.”

“He’s always supported me,” Sarah said softly, looking over at Tim. “I’ll do whatever needs to be done to support him.”

“As will I,” Ziva added.

Excusing himself because he had other patients to see, Captain Gelfand left and Ziva was once again left alone with Sarah, who was squeezing Tim’s hand and appearing to will him to open his eyes with the power of her mind.

Ziva tried to excuse herself to give Sarah some privacy, but before she could get her sentence out Sarah told her she had a late class to get to. She gave Ziva her cell phone number and extracted a promise for Ziva to call if anything happened before she could come back in the morning.

When Ziva was alone, she sat down in the chair vacated by Sarah and took a deep breath. “Your sister is very worried about you,” Ziva told Tim. “I suspect she will be very angry if you do not start getting better.”

Tim’s eyes fluttered open and focused in on Ziva. She felt every muscle in her body tense as she waited to see if he was truly conscious this time.

“Zee?” he whispered hoarsely.

“Yes, Tim, I’m here,” Ziva told him, standing up and reaching across the bed to access the glass of lukewarm water that had been sitting there in anticipation since the last time he had started to wake up. “Would you like a sip of water?”

Tim nodded very slowly and she gently inserted the straw between his lips, pulling it out when he had taken a sip.

“Not too much,” she cautioned him, remembering what the nurse had told her. “Just a sip.”

Tim took another tiny sip and Ziva watched him carefully, keeping one eye on the button that would bring a nurse running. After his second sip, she set the plastic cup back on the table and sat down in her chair.

“How do you feel?” she asked, feeling stupid immediately after the words came out of her mouth. What a ridiculous question! She had seen the stapled together flesh in his abdomen from the surgery, the tube coming out of his chest and he had a cast on his left leg that nearly reached his hip. What could he be feeling other than miserable?

“Tired,” he murmured, his eyes drooping. “Whahappened?” he slurred, his nose twitching slightly, probably to protest the nasal cannula providing extra oxygen. Or the feeding tube.

“You were in an accident,” Ziva explained. “You are in the hospital.”

Tim’s eyes slowly closed. “Oh,” he breathed.

Ziva sat there for a long time, long past when she knew for sure he was sleeping. She watched his chest rise up and down and listened to the heart monitor he was wearing beep steadily. She sat quietly watching until over an hour had passed and the night nurse politely reminded her that visiting hours were over.

xxx

The first thing Tim remembered was the sensation of something cool and smooth rolling across his forehead. He wrinkled his brow and tried to move away, but his head felt as if it weighed a thousand pounds.

“Tim?” An unfamiliar female voice asked.

He struggled to open his eyes and failed. “Yeah?” he managed to croak out.

“Can you open those eyes, handsome?”

This time, he managed to get them open, at least partly to find out who was calling him handsome. As his eyes adjusted, he saw that he was in a dimly lit hospital room, most of the light coming from the open door to the hallway and a small amount coming from the window to his left.

A middle-aged woman with dirty blond hair pulled into a messy bun and Snoopy scrubs stood beside him holding an instrument in her hand. She had a laptop on a tall desk beside her and she was smiling wide enough for him to worry just a little bit that he was dying.

“Am I dying?” The words slipped out of his mouth.

The nurse barked in laughter. “Not today, Tim. Not today.”

He watched her begin typing rapidly at her laptop, probably noting something about him. “Who are you?” he asked bluntly, hoping it didn’t sound rude.

“My name is Margy and I’m one of the night nurses here.” Margy gave him another big smile. “I don’t suppose you remember us meeting earlier, huh?”

Tim shook his head slowly.

“That’s all right,” she told him, causing him to notice the slight southern drawl to her voice. “It’s normal to need a few tries before that short term memory ‘takes’. Hopefully, the third time will be the charm.”

As Tim woke up again later, he became aware of a great deal of pain in his ribs and his left leg. “What happened?” he asked as Margy checked his pulse and adjusted the blanket over him.

“From what I’ve heard, you got in a nasty crash chasing away a young woman’s stalker.” Margy put her hands on her hips and smiled. “Apparently you’re quite the hero.”

Tim frowned. He couldn’t remember any kind of accident, let alone one where he was acting heroic in any way.

“Okay, my turn to ask the questions. What year is it?”

“Two thousand and six.”

“Do you know where your name is?”

Tim frowned at her. “Timothy McGee.” The pain in his leg was getting worse and he was feeling something in his ribcage as well. He must have broken some ribs in the accident. But he didn’t remember broken ribs hurting that bad before…

“Excellent. And two plus two equals?”

“Five,” Tim said, watching for her reaction.

She laughed. “Close enough. And it shows you still have your sense of humor, very important thing to keep. Sorry for the stupid questions, we have to ask them to make sure you didn’t get a harder hit on the head than we realized.”

“S’ok,” Tim said, wincing at the pain in his leg.

Margy snapped back into nurse-mode. “On a scale of one to ten, how bad is the pain?”

“Twelve?” Tim managed to get out.

“I’ll be right back,” Margy assured him.

It felt as if now that he had acknowledged the pain, it suddenly magnified itself. Tim couldn’t identify what hurt anymore, he just hurt.

It seemed like hours before he heard the soft footsteps of Margy coming back. Tim was having trouble breathing by that point, gasping to get the oxygen in.

“Just a sec and you’re going to feel a lot better,” Margy said. Tim barely registered as she injected something into his I.V. line.

The last thing he remembered was a warm and fuzzy feeling washing over his body and a blissful lack of pain.

xxx

Tim was surprised (but shouldn’t have been) to see his sister burst through the door the next morning just after his doctor left. His mind was still reeling with all of the things he had just been told.

Even seeing the evidence before him, it all seemed unreal. The doctor had asked him if he had any questions and his mind had gone completely blank, so he’d shook his head stupidly and stared at the wall in front of him until Sarah showed up.

Tim gave a tiny little wave. “Hey, sis.”

“You’re awake!” Sarah promptly burst into tears and flung herself at him, clutching at his sides and sobbing loudly.

Tim scrunched up his face, forcing himself to tolerate the waves of pain that her embrace was causing to his midsection. Sarah had one arm pinned down as she cried so he used his free one to awkwardly pat her back in an attempt to comfort her. She was probably terrified, and Tim knew he must look at least half as bad as he felt.

Sarah pulled back and must have noticed his clenched teeth and furrowed brow because she pulled back quickly.

“You jerk!” she exclaimed, punching his unbandaged shoulder hard enough to make him wince. “You should have told me I was hurting you. Now I feel bad!”

She perched on the edge of his bed and wiped her tears away with her fingers. “I didn’t hurt you too badly, did I?” She seemed to be recovering from her tears as quickly as they had arrived and now had a definite furrow of worry in her brow.

Tim used the small remote for his bed to angle himself up a little further, which reduced the nearly constant pressure on his ribs a minuscule amount. It wasn’t much, but every little bit helped.

“It hurts even when I’m not moving,” Tim told her honestly and held out a wire with a button attached to the top, which he’d been keeping clutched in his right hand. “But I just pressed the magic morphine button so I’m okay for the moment.”

That led to Tim giving Sarah a brief explanation of the machine dispensing pain medication that Margy had gotten him set up with less than an hour before. He could only push the button every nine minutes, but other than that he was a huge fan already.

“I’m really mad at you,” Sarah told him, although her face still read more scared than angry. “I know you and Dad don’t see eye to eye, but I think I deserved to know that my brother was lying in a hospital bed on death’s door.”

Tim winced. “In my defense, I made those instructions when I first joined NCIS and you were only sixteen. I didn’t want Dad to have the satisfaction of saying ‘I told you so’ if I got hurt.”

Sarah made a face. “Okay, but you’ll change it now, right?”

Tim nodded. “I’ll ask Ziva if she can bring me the forms.”

Sarah’s eyes met his and one side of her mouth lifted in a smile. “What’s up with you and her anyway? The pervy guy you work with said she’s been in here every day since you got hurt.”

“Tony,” Tim murmured, analyzing this new piece of information in his head. “I didn’t know that. Hey, wait a minute! Tony didn’t hit on you did he?”

“No.” Sarah rolled her eyes. “Although I’m pretty sure he undressed me with his eyes. Are you and Ziva dating or something?”

“No!” Tim exclaimed, probably a little too fast to be convincing but his brain was still swirling from hearing the phrase ‘undressed me with his eyes’ come out of his baby sister’s mouth. “We’re just good friends.”

“Like how you and Abby were just good friends?” Sarah snickered.

This time, Tim rolled his eyes. “No, then I was lying because you were in high school and had an incredibly big mouth.”

Sarah raised her eyebrows. “I had a big mouth?”

“Still do,” he couldn’t resist replying.

Sarah lifted her hand to punch him again but stopped herself. “I guess I probably shouldn’t beat on my poor, infirm brother.”

“I’m not,” Tim tried to push himself up a little and felt a particularly sharp pain shoot up his side. “Okay, I’m a little infirm,” he admitted.

Sarah tapped his casted leg with a fingernail, making a noise. “I think I’m gonna call you Gimpy,” she said with a grin.

“Okay, time for Gimpy’s sponge bath.”

Margy laughed, likely at the horrified expressions on both sibling’s faces. She was standing near the front of the room with an ominous pink basin under one arm.

“Ew.” Sarah leaped to her feet. “I’m going to go see if there’s anything edible in the cafeteria.”

“Grab me something,” Tim said, only half joking.

Margy waved a warning finger. “Limited liquid diet only, young man. The last thing we need is to stress out your digestive system. For now, you’re getting sufficient nutrients through that feeding tube.”

Right, the feeding tube. Tim had spent a little time already pondering on how much he did not want to know how that little tube had snaked up his nose and was somehow linked up to his stomach.

Sarah disappeared and Tim endured what was possibly the most uncomfortable procedure in his memory. (the catheter didn’t count since he wasn’t awake for that one)

Luckily, if he could say that, the pain distracted a great deal from the humiliation of having a middle-aged woman he barely knew wipe him down with a washcloth.

Whatever it took to make sure that never happened again, Tim was going to make sure he did it. The only thing that could have made the experience more humiliating would have been if Ziva had been the one performing the sponge bath.

Tim shuddered.

xxx

Ziva inquired at the nurses station when she arrived at the hospital. She had not gotten out of work until seven and it was nearly eight now, which was the end of visiting hours.

It had never been a problem before. Being an NCIS agent apparently came with the privilege of being able to visit anytime you wanted, but things felt different now that Tim was awake.

Ziva stood awkwardly outside Tim’s door. Sarah had called her earlier, so excited to tell Ziva that Tim was awake, for good this time. Ziva’s first emotion had been pure relief, so profound that she hadn’t even thought about what it meant for her until just now.

All those hours she had spent sitting by Tim’s bed and praying he would be all right and she had never once thought about what she would say to him when he was finally awake.

It wasn’t like her to be timid.

Just jiggle it off, she told herself, pushing the door open.

“Hey! Ziva!” Tim’s wide grin puzzled her until she was close enough to see his glazed over eyes.

She crossed her arms as she walked up to the bed, smiling down at him. “You look as if you feel better.”

“Yeah.” Tim chuckled. “They took my chest tube out and gave me more medicine. Wanna see?” He pointed at his side.

“That is all right,” Ziva said, holding back a smile. She sat down beside him, noticing that there was a worn looking stuffed puppy on the bedside table. “I have not met your new friend.”

Tim’s eyes slid to the side. “Oh. Sarah brought Fuzzy. Thought he’d make me feel better.”

“Did it work?”

“Not until the medicine kicked in.”

Ziva couldn’t help smiling. She was just so relieved to see him alert, or at least smiling. Even if it was morphine-induced.

She reached into her bag and pulled out her copy of Deep Six. “I was going to save this until you were feeling better, but I think now might be a better time to get honest answers.”

Tim’s eyes widened to comic proportions. “Uh-oh. Are you mad at me, Ziva?”

“Not as mad as Tony is going to be,” she teased him gently. “At least you described me as ‘sultry’.”

“You are sultry,” Tim told her. “And Tony is-”

“I think we all know what Tony is.”

Tim smiled. “How’d you find out?” he asked, his words starting to slur a little.

Ziva put the book back in her bag and smiled. “Abby gave it to me before she left.”

“Oh no.” Tim groaned. “Does Gibbs know?”

“I think so.”

“He’s gonna kill me,” Tim mumbled.

Ziva smiled. “Somehow I do not think so. Not after what you did for Abby and Liam.”

“Liam?” Tim crinkled up his forehead. “Who’s Liam.”

“Liam is her baby,” Ziva told him. “Liam Timothy Gibbs.”

“Whoa.”

A nurse Ziva did not recognize stepped into the room and gestured towards the clock. Ziva nodded, indicating her agreement.

Tim’s eyelids were drooping. She smiled as he struggled to keep his eyes open. “It is getting late,” she told him. “I should let you sleep.”

“Naw,” Tim murmured, reaching out blindly with his hand until she took it. “Not yet. Don’t wanna be alone.”

“I will stay until you fall asleep,” Ziva said, acquiescing to his request. This seemed to pacify him, so she waited until his eyes had been closed for a minute and gently extricated her hand from his.

“Ziva?” Tim’s voice echoed across the room as she was tiptoeing out. “Promise you’ll come back tomorrow?”

Ziva paused for a moment. She stared at the floor, emotions flooding through her. “I promise.” She straightened and left the room without looking back. 

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone! I hope you enjoy the sequel to Driftwood. Most of this story was written for Nanowrimo 2013 but it needs more work than Driftwood did. Also, I'm working on finishing up an original novel to be self-published, so I may not be able to work on this as much. But I will do my best to update as often as I can. 
> 
> Let me know what you think!


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